Method of finishing tops of hosiery forms



April 21, 1953 B. P. COOPER ETAL 2,535,291

METHOD OF FINISHING TOPS 0F" HOSIERY FORMS Filed March 14, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 [nve niors Basil P Cooper James Nf/enshaw April 21, 1953 B. P. COOPER ETAL METHOD OF FINISHING TOPS 0F HOSIERY FORMS Filed March 14, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 u n w I p t I I Inventors Basil P Cooper James N Hens/1am Patented Apr. 21, 1953 METHOD or FINISHING rors F HOSIERY FORMS Basil Pomeroy Cooper and James Norman ,Hen- 1 v shaw,- Leicester, England, assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemin gton, N. J.,

, invention relates to methods of finishing the op s of hollow hosiery forms, commonly mad'e of plastic material, to avoid damage to hosiery displayed thereon.

For om hollow hosiery forms molded from plastic material have been used forthe display of hosiery in stores and the finishing of the upper end of such forms so that there may be no dangertof. injuring the hosieryhas been costly and has required substantial skill.

One'well-known mannerof making the forms is described in Letters Patent of the United States 2,222,461, granted November 19, 1940, upon the application of W. J. De Witt et al. There the hollow form is shaped in a suitable die and when withdrawn from the die has a partiallyclosed top comprising an inturned fiat top flange integral with the leg of the form. Centrally disposed on this flange and forming an extension thereof is a conicalprojection which results from the man- I nerlof clamping the material in the die and which isfusuallyfremoved in completing the form, leaving the inturned Inarginal'fiange. After this projection or neck has beenremoved it is necessary to finish the sharp inner edge of the flange by careful work with an abrasive tool together with the application of a solvent to the smoothed edge.

In one aspect the invention resides in an improved method of finishing the tops of such forms which may be carried out cheaply and expeditiously even by unskilled workers.

In utilizing this method the conical neck which is to be discarded is removed by a rotary trimming tool herein illustrated as a trepanning saw and this is followed by the curling of the remaining inturned flange as by presenting the top end of a form to a heated shaping tool which, in the preferred embodiment, has a conical projection which terminates at its inner end in an annular curved recess. The form is pressed against this tool until the heat causes the upper end to curl inwardly and assume the shape of the recess thus leaving a smooth nicely finished end portion which requires very little hand work. The preferred way of carrying out this method is described in the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is an axial cross-section through the upper end of a suitable die used for initially molding the form;

Fig. 2 illustrates the presentation of the molded form to the trepanning tool to trim it and cut away the neck thereon;

a corporation of NeW Jersey Application March 14, 1950, Serial No. 149,48 In Great Britain April 8, 1949 I Fig. 3 shows the manner of presenting the resulting trimmed form to a heated shaping tool which causes the marginal flange of the form to curl inwardly; and V Fig. 4 shows the finished condition of one such hosiery form after it has been treated in accord ance with our method. W

Hosiery forms ID of the samegeneral character as that shown in Fig. 4 ofv the drawingshave been made from hollow tubes of plastic material sub stantially in the manner illustrated in the De Witt patent mentioned above by inserting a tube with in a two-part mold l2, and closing the mold to pinch the tube at the foot portion thereof so as to closeit, and to grip the upper end of the tube within the conical portion [4 of the mold against a plug it. This plug may be provided with a pipe l8 for the introduction of steam to be used in heating the material'of the form Iilto expand it and cause it tojfit the inside of the mold and a pipe "20 by means of which the steam may be exhausted from the mold at a later time when a valve, not shown, thereinis opened.

. The shape of the mold l2, I4 is such that the upper end of the form is partially closed as by an inturned fiangeZZ which is integral with and merges with the leg porti'onofthe form in a. smooth curve. The flange terminates at its inner edge in an upstanding neck 24 which is incidental to the molding operation.

After the molded form has been cooled, to set the plastic in its molded shape, it is removed from the mold andthe plug [6 broken out of the neck 24. Thereupon the pinched together portion at the foot is trimmed away and the closed upper portion of the form is subjected to a finishing operation providing a smooth edge so that the form may be introduced in a stocking with the latter overlapping the top portion thereof without danger of injuring the stocking.

In accordance with our improved method of finishing the top of the form, the neck portion 24 thereof is removed by making a cut around the base of the neck where it joins the inturned flange 22. This can be done simply and with considerable precision by introducing the neck portion into a circular cutter 30 which is here shown as a trepanning saw supported in a carrier 32 by means of which it is adapted to be rotated upon a fixed axis. It will be noted that the tapered formation 34 of the lower end of the inner surface of the carrier is substantially the same size as the outer surface of the neck where it joins the flange 22. This will help to center the form in the saw 30 and make it uning the finishing process, the upper end'p'ftIie form I is presented to a shaping tool 40 electrically heated by current introduced through wires 42 to a heating element 43. {Ihissh g tool has a frusto conical projectiQn'M SHape to "coa'ct with and contact the inner periphery of the fiange 22 as the two are brought together. ;During this relative movement the position of "the form is centralized with respect to the projection 44 by means of a cylindrical guide watt-aches entedfrom becoming hot by I W I eu -iihga's'hr heat'ihsiil'ating iriaterifal suchfas sbestos. The ir inef'e'rid oi the conical projection M' converges with the body of the 1700 140 in an annular, hemi 'tb'roidal recesses which, in retain cross sheath, is asinooth curve extending cut to the inaximuin diah1eti'ical iiithe fd'r'i-h.

- f rin -t'he iieck portion of p I 'meahs'drthtrepah= 's'awsh" h iiiFig' caused to ehg'age'th'e formifi'g tijolshown 1n Fzg 3tHe flange '22 will be softened *and-caused-to-curl inwardly at 52 in Fight thus iovid-ih g -a f 'orivehieht hand held for hipuhitih'g-ther m'arid for= 'carrying itfro'rn p1 ceto place. SiitistantiaHy'at-the end'ofthe upward rhovefri entof trierji'mthe fiahge will be founded to Qfit "the "recess 511, {thus i imparting "t e fsha 'a'e shoi'vriinl i'g."4. Theghidehas slits (not showm to permit the operator to watch the progress of this' shapingstep, A minimum of smoothingjoi the inner edge 510f: this curled -in flangeis all that is needed gammamm injury a stocking drawnbver the form with the surplus material at th'e top of the 1 stocking 'pu'shedfinto the the ins de through the aperture farmed hy the in'c'urled fia'nge" 52.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The method of finishing the top end of a hollow'plasticiho'siery form =-havingthe shape of aportwnof a'hiiman leg, an intg ral irr-turned marginal flange and upstanding tapered neck joined to the inner periphery of said flange;-

which consistsin utilizing the neck to guide the to'ciittiiig engagement with a driven an the form and the tapered projection of the tool tdciiil'theinner edge portion of the flange downwardly directly into the leg portion of the form ahdfth'rqrce the iipbsd t'op' sii rfacefo'f'tliefiange' into the hemi-toroidal recess of 'the tool form ng the'fla'nge into a hemi-toroidahsh'apeextending from the curled inner edge there'of to the outer surface or the legportion of the orm. M M

I 2, The method of finishing the top e'iifd *offa gageinehvwith a 'tap'redsurfafce within theatr nular trimmingjtbol to guide the 'form'ifitociite" e s e l lt the e-ti he A IL' QM RQY COOPER-H JAMES NORMAN References cited in thefile or this-patent edge of the in-turned flange M V v ha tapered projection upon a heatedfbrmmg'tool having an annular, hemitoroidalrecessatthe inner end of the projection and'continuing the relative movement between 

